Chapter 3

Max opened his eyes to see that he was now buckled up in a car. Covering his body was a knitted blanket which Max assumed was made by David. He looked to the front seats and saw that Gwen and David seemed to be busy with conversation to the point that they hadn't noticed Max wake up. He was still too groggy to catch what they were actually saying but David did eventually notice that Max had woken up. Eventually he stopped the car, and said, "Welcome home Max."

Max rubbed his eyes and looked out the window, only to have his eyes go wide from what he spotted. He expected David to have a single apartment building in a friendly neighborhood which he and Gwen shared. Either that or a house in the suburbs, but would probably drive Gwen crazy since she had to deal with many kids like Max. Then again living with David both as a fellow camp counselor, and as a roommate outside of the summer season would be exhausting but that's another matter. Instead of seeing a small old house, Max saw something else.

The house that they drove up to was actually rather large, more so than one would be able to afford through the salary of a camp counselor. It looked to be about two stories and possibly with a basement based on what Max was able to gather. The neighborhood was nice but rather small in population with how spaced out the houses were. The only thing that didn't surprise Max was that it was within walking distance from a university that was up the road, since David did like to educate people. Overall, it seemed like a nice place to live, even without comparing it to his previous home life.

David led Max on a tour throughout the house which was surprising. The kitchen and dining room looked big enough to fit extra company if needed. The living room was cozy and designed more for a mid-class family. The basement, to Max's lack of surprise, had a bunch of camping supplies and a few instruments hanging on the walls. Upstairs was where three bedrooms were located, as well as a couple bathrooms.

David's room was connected to a shared bathroom leading to Gwen's room. The room was pretty big, though Gwen's room was bigger. It was obvious that Gwen's room was the master bedroom which David let her take because he's nice like that. Though now he was curious as to how big his own bedroom would be. But before he would find out, they still had more of the tour to complete.

The second floor had another little living room which led out to a deck. The deck had a set of stairs leading down to the backyard. The backyard itself looked like it had a garden area, and even a pool just a few steps away from the deck itself. It still wasn't like his previous house, but knowing how these two would be, he'd probably have more access to other stuff. However, the same thought was repeating in Max's head; How the hell can they afford this?

Finally the tour ended with the adults showing Max his new bedroom, the part that he was probably most excited about. His previous living situation was a tiny bedroom with no decorations. Only the simple amenities like a bed set, a little chest for his toys, and a light were provided for the room. The AC never ran through that part of the house so Max would be freezing during the winter. This time, it was a lot different.

The bedroom looked a little more prepared for Max, but it still had a ways to go. In the middle of a wall under a window was a full-sized bed with a blue patterned comforter on top with Cyan colored sheets to match. Off to the left was a dresser with five drawers as opposed to the one drawer he use to have, and off to the right was a closet. On the wall next to the door leading into the room was a desk with a lamp on top. As Max was taking in the whole room, he heard David say, "Sorry if it isn't enough."

Max turned around and said, with complete disbelief, "This is amazing. How can you afford a place like this?"

"Well I'm actually a professor at the local university," David explained, "And I'm very good at saving money."

"Enough to get a place like this?" Max asked.

"Hey I helped too," Gwen chimed in with mock irritation.

Turns out, Gwen actually had a decent paying job at the same university but she wanted to get a proper job. At first it was to get away from Camp Campbell despite the fact that working as a counselor there meant that she was still working with her best friend. But that thought changed very recently. After all, now she had a positive way to think of Camp Campbell. It was the place where she was able to get her son back.

"I never said that you didn't," David said in defense.

Max laughed a little bit, which helped him feel warm inside. However, he still had one more question, "So…what happens now?"

David shrugged, "Well that's up to you. It's still early enough in the day so we can decorate your room a little more. Or we can take you shopping for some new things for you. Whichever you want to do kiddo."

Max didn't answer at first. Sure he frequently took charge and made decisions without second thoughts when they were at Camp Campbell. However, those were all in ways to either cause chaos, or to escape the place. Now, he's simply making a choice about his home life and the experience seemed completely foreign to him. He didn't really know what to do other than say, "You…want me to choose?"

"Absolutely," David answered with perhaps one of his happiest grins, "You live here now so you get a say in what we all do."

That was when Gwen quickly spoke up, "Within the law though, and with veeery minimal destruction."

Max looked around and asked, "Do you have a game console anywhere?"

David and Gwen looked at each other as if expecting the other one to answer. Since the two were busy with their jobs, neither of them thought about ever getting a game console. They did have a mound of board games but neither one of them figured Max would be interested in playing those. At least probably not with just the three of them. Either way, Max caught on to their looks, and said, "I'll assume that's a no."

"Probably not," Gwen answered, "Do you want to go get one?"

Max paused again before answering, "Uh…sure."

The three hopped into the car to go to the store. Whilst there, they snagged a few games for Max to play, and a game console that he could play on. They also purchased a few other things for the boy such as new clothes, bed sheets, and other little things. It took a little longer than it should've because Max was sort of given more free reign than his previous caretakers would give him. But Gwen and David didn't care because Max was happy, which made them happy as well.

They ended up driving back home after collecting a few decoration materials for Max's room. By the time they were finished, it was time for dinner which was a pizza delivery to the house. But the good news was that Max's room was complete, and now he had a video game to play. His favorite seemed to be a video game called Achiever Throwdown which was a fighting game. Normally David wasn't much of a fan of video games, but he looked a little pleased that Max's favorite character was Mogar, the warrior who was part grizzly.

Eventually Max fell asleep playing, and Gwen carried him to bed. After laying him down in his bed, Gwen had to deal with Max clung to her arm with a death grip. It took David replacing Gwen's arm with Mr. Honeynuts. Gwen did find it sweet that Max turned to her for security, but he was strong for a small child. The two eventually left to their bed to sleep, happily waiting for what tomorrow will bring.